Rotary display rack



May 4 1,926.

' vR.A F. JOHNSON ROTARY DISPLAY RACK Filed Julyv 28.' 1924 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR RI! JUHNSDN'.

AT'ToRNEwQs.

Mgy 4 1926. 1,583,158

R. F.' JOHNSON ROTARY DISPLAY RACK Filed July 28. 1924 2 sneet.s1wka'vINVENTR Rf. JUHNSUM MW ATTORNEYS. l

Patented May 4, 1926.

ROBERT F. JOHNSON, or SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

'ROTARY :DISPLAY nAoK.

Application led .Tuly 28, 1924. Serial No. 728,719.

T aZZ whom t may' conce/m Be it known that LBOBERT F. JOHNSON, a citizenofthe 'United States, and a resident of Seattle, conntyof King, State ofTashingtoinhave invented la new and useful .Rotary Display Rack, ofwhich the :tol-V lowing isa specificatlon.

The present invention Arelates Lto improvements in `,display Vracks andits particular object is toprovide a device which allows a ,plurality ofsheets 4of wall paper, linoleum samples, window shades, pictures 'ofkvarious kinds, and the like, to be successively displayed `to thepurchasing public.

.Itis'particularly proposed to provide a device of this characterr inwhichfthefsheets or leaves to vbei displayedfare arranged in book forin,:that is l`as .a VAblockof Ileaves fastened together `at one end and.allowingtheother endtozbe:turnexloverV one ,after theother`forthepurpose of displaying thenextleaf. AOne object oftheinventionisito allow this turning Vover of `the single vleaves to loe lbrought-*abouti by mechanical i means not requiring the constantattention ofan operator.v A further object of the invention .is toprovide means "for-.automatically turn- ,ing overthe whole vbook-afterthe last leai has been turned, whereby the whole book returns to itsinitial position and ywhich allows, the-leaf turning operation to becon- -tinued indefinitely without requiring the aid of an attendant.Further'objects Vandadvantages of. my devicewill .appear as `the.specification proceeds.

vThe preferredY form of the invention is illustrated'in theyaccompanyingdrawing in which -Figure l showsa-front view of my device; Figure 2 Yaside view ofthe'same;

lo 'Figure 3 afsectional view'taken along'line 3-.3 of- Figure l; Figure4 a sectional view taken :along line f-t of Figure 2;]Figure 5 anenlarged detail view showing the arrangement of the turning element-`with the leaves ,Figuren a detail sectional view taken along iline 6-.6of Figure 5, `and Figure 7 a detail viewgofythe lower .lend vofthe backsupporting the leaves. ,'While I haveshown only the preferred form ofthe invention, it

" should be understood that variousvchanges or mod-iiieationsmay be madewithin the scope of@v the claims hereto attached without `departingfromythespirit of the invention.

Stationary standards l suitably braced by 'means of transverse memberslsupport inbearings 3 the shaft Ll, whichrlatter has .a cog wheel 6rotatable thereon meshing with a pinion mountedcoaxially `vvitha secondpinion 8 meshing with .a'cog Vwheel 8, which latterreceives rotary-vmotion` fro-inthe shaft 8 of` a motor 9. The cog wheel is fixed to thelframe .11, whichlatteralso ro- .tates on shaft 4, is ypreferablyrectangular in form andv shaped toy straddlet-he block ofleaves1,2,..the upper end of which is, ,together with the upper endoflitsbackingl, securely held .and'claniped fin ,they drum 1'5 fast onthe shaft v4. Thebackingl-S is made of rigid material, butjointed f by:means t of hinges 18 in such amannenas .toallowof its bending `inthedirectionofthe lea-ves, but. to preventiany bending in fthe.: oppositedirection. i l i The Acentral portion of the 'backing 13 supports inspaced relation theretothe meinber .16k by, means of ,thef turn I buckle141this member serving to, ,givesupport .to the',V leaves as .theyarefolded over."

The frame .1l `is,provixfle'fd .at ,one endy with twocurvedfrails17forming a continuous path with the frame .for thetransverse shafterlS, which latter is 'for this Vpurpose provided with ashoulder 419 `adapted yto `ride in a.groove;21.i n thefrailand withanad- ,jacent vgroove ,22 riding Aon Nthe 'ridge 23 ,on `the rail.VVhen- `the ,frame ill lis :revolved on its `pivot Athe ,shaft '18Vrides lin' vthe Path during a complete revolution vof 'the fr-ame theyshaft ,18 travels yover ,the entire l,path so the shaft` as e shown, inFigure 6 `and several sets of .these hooks being provided. f1. ne

sheets of material to be handled byrmy device are preforated near `theirvlower edges .as shown at26,theplerforations in twosuc- .cessive sheetsbemgarranged so asnot to register. and the; `material around their fperforations being A,reinforced by /means `of .metal clips 27. ItWill-henotedcthat while the perforation'of onesheet is ,arranged toregister with one series of hooks ,on thefshaft 18 the,perforationinthe'next sheetregisters with.y another series .of hooks.

The device. thus.far,describedpoperatesas l follows: As the motorisvstartedthe frame 11 begins-to- -revolvefxon `theshaftrea AssumingthatT at. thebeginningcf the operad tion the frame 11 occupies theposition illustrated in Figure 2, its lower end will rise while itsupper end descends. ltwill be noted that where the curved member 17joins the outer end of the frame 11 a niche 28 is provided in the railarresting themotio-n of the shaft 18 for a short while so as to allowthe shaft to gain a certain momentum before it is released from theniche. As soon as the lo-wer end of the frame 11 has advancedsufficiently far to liberate the shaft 18 the same rolls downwardly onthe rails 17 and while doing so its hooks 24e engage with theperforation in the uppermost sheet. As the advance -of the frame 11continues rthe sha-ft 18 will gradually be lifted away from the block ofleaves by following the curve of the two rails and by the time the frame11 has made a one-half revolution the Shaft 18 will be at the oppositejoint of the rails with the frame as indicated in Ydotted lines in theupper part of Figure 2. As the frame advances still further the shaft 18will remain through a certain distance in the comparatively sharp cornerformed between the rails and the frame, and after having advanced to aposition from which the sheet will fall downward by its own weight, themotion of the shaft 18 is reversed by the engagement of a cog wheel 29with a stationary rack bar 31 supported on the brackets 32. The cogwheel is rotated by the rack bar while passing the same in a reversedirection, whereby the hook 24 is made to disengage from the bottom endof the leaf so that the latter may now drop into the position shown inFigure 2. After dropping the edge 0f the leafthe end of t-he frame 11continues its rotary motion, while theshaft 18 rides along the bottomface of the frame 11 toward the niche 28 in which it comes to a stop fora certain length of time sufficiently long to allow the shaft to gain amomentum for effecting its engagement with the next sheet of material.ln case the shaft should hesitate to leave the niche at the proper time,two leaf springs 30 mounted on one of the Atransverse members 2 andobstructing the path of the. shaft will start the same.

It will be seen that in this manner the leaves are turned oversuccessively allowing a prospective purchaser to carefully review eachone of the sheets which is .fully exposed to him for a certain length oftime.

It should be understood that some other arrangement might belsubstituted for the j hooks without departing from the spirit of thisinvention. It might, for instance, be found feasible to use a magnet forthe successivepicking up and dropping of the lower edge of the leaves.

During this whole operation the. main shaft 4C has been ke t fromturning by means of the tension ban 31l bearing on the outercircumference of a wheel 32 fixed to the shaft 4t by means of the setscrew 33 passing through a projection 34 rising from the face of thewheel. The tightness of the tension band.31 may be adjusted by means ofthe wing nut 36 threaded upon the threaded end 37 Of the band andbearing on a stationary element38. The turning over of the single leavesdoes not aect the drum 15 or the shaft l, so that even after all theleaves have been turned over the drum still remains in its originalposition. After the last leaf hasbeen turned, the hooks on the shaft 18engage with the lower end of the backing 18, which for this purpose isprovided with any suitable catch t1 for the hooks, and in revolving theframe 11 carries with it the lower end of the backing, which latterbends on its various hinges until the upper rigid portion of the same isreached, whereupon a further revolving movement of the frame 11 willcause the rigid portion of the backing to revolve the drum 15 and withit the shaft 4 over the resistance of the tension band 81. The support16 for the folded leaves partalres of this revolving m0- tion, and thelatter motion continues until the whole arrangement, leaves, backing andsupport 16, have fallen back by gravity into their initial position. Iffound necessary, the wheel 32, opposing the rotation of the drum 15, maybe made slightly elliptical so as to offer less resistance afterrotation has started.

I claim:

1. In a display stand, means for suspend- Ving a block of leaves from asupport engaging one edge thereof only and a rotary frame pivoted nearthe support having means associated with the end thereof successivelyengaging the ylower edges of the leaves for turning the same about theupper edge of the, block for display purposes.

2. ln a display stand of the character de scribed, a block of leavessuspended from a stationary support, a rotary frame pivoted near thesupporting point having means associated with the end thereofsuccessively engaging the lower edges of the leaves and turning the sameabout the upper edge of the block. and means for disengaging the framefrom the leaves after the turning motion has been effected,

8. In a display stand of the character described, a leaf supported atits top edge and mechanical means for turning the leaf about its topedge comprising a frame pivoted to straddle the leaf having curved guiderails thereon and a shaft riding on the guide rails having means thereonfalling in engagement with thelower edge of the leaf as the rails passthe same and causing the said edge to follow its course.

4r. In a display stand of the character described, a leaf supported atits top edge and mechanical means for turning the leaf about its topedge comprising a frame pivoted to straddle the leaf having curved guiderails thereon, a shaft riding on the guide rails having means thereonfalling in engagement with the lower edge of the leaf as the rails passthe saine and causing the said edge to follow its course, and meanscausing the said lower edge to be released When it has advancedsufficiently to drop by its own Weight.

5. In a display stand of the character devscribed, a leaf supported atits top edge and mechanical means for turning the leaf about its topedge comprising a frame pivoted to straddle the leaf having curved guiderails thereon and a shaft riding on the guide rails having hooks thereonfalling into engage-- ment with the lower edge of the leaf as the railspass the same and causing the Said edge to follow its course.

6. In aV display stand of the character described, a leaf supported atits top edge and mechanical means for turning the leaf about its topedge Vcomprising a frame pivoted to straddle the leaf having curvedguide rails thereon, a shaft riding on the guide rails having hooksthereon falling into engagement with the lower edge of the leaf as therails pass the Asame and causing the said edge to follow its course, acog Wheel on the shaft and a fixed rack rod engaging said cog Wheel whenthe lower edge of the sheet has advanced sufficiently to drop by its ownWeight for turning the shaft lso as to release the leaf;

ROBERT F. JOHNSON.

